Warrior of the Lifestream
by Botoingness
Summary: A week after the events of Dirge of Cerberus, Vincent visits Lucrecia in her cave when suddenly, he finds himself face to face with Minerva, the will of the Lifestream. Minerva forces Chaos into Vincent once more. With no memory of what happened after his encounter with Minerva, he finds himself on the shores Bodhum. Thirteen days before the Purge.


Chapter 1: Once More

The sound of rushing water filled the air as Vincent entered the mouth of the cave. The cool air surrounded him as he walked deeper into the dark abyss. His footsteps echoed through the never ending caverns with a soft glow leading his path. As he approached the glowing object, it became overwhelmingly clear that the source of the light was none other than his beloved Lucrecia Crescent.

"Lucrecia." Vincent placed his hand on the crystalized mako she was encased in.

It had been a week since Shelke retrieved him from this cave. He had come to find that she was staying with Cloud and Tifa for the time being. He would stop by to check up on her and, by Tifa's orders, make small talk with her. Neither of the two were good at it. In an attempt to get Tifa off his back and learn to properly break the ice, he came to speak with Lucrecia.

As a Turk, he would run into situations where having a normal conversations was needed. He knew how to have normal conversations and even carry them on for a while. Though, it was his job. As long as he had an objective that needed to be completed, he could do just about anything. With this situation, he couldn't see it that way. He saw it as honestly trying to relearn how to properly interact with another human being. He didn't want to see it as a job. After spending thirty years in a coffin, one tends to forget how to interact with others. One can even forget how to be human.

"Old habits are hard to break." He sighed. His hand slowly slid down the crystal and back to his side. He then raised his arm to examine it. Hidden underneath his arm, just barely visible, even to himself, were four orbs known as materia. One was lightning, one was fire, one was ice, and the other was a healing one. Holstered to his side was his triple barreled revolver known simply as Cerberus. It even had a keychain to match it.

Lifting his left hand, he examined the golden gauntlet encasing his arm. He flexed his fingers, making sure he still had feeling in them. He knew he had an arm underneath the gauntlet, he just couldn't remove it. It was as though it was a part of him. Maybe it was. Maybe it was surgically attached to his arm, never to be taken off.

"What do you think?" Vincent held up his arm to Lucrecia. He slowly lowered it back down again. "Right, you don't even know what I'm asking." He had grown so accustomed to his own thoughts that he would forget to say something. "Maybe I should just try speaking out loud to myself from now on. Become one of those crazy old men from the slums of Midgar when I was a child." He sighed again. He wasn't going to grow old and he knew it. Whatever Hojo did to him, it stopped him from aging. Hell, it even stopped him from needing basic necessities such as food and water. Whenever he was wounded, he would heal abnormally fast. Depending on the type of wound, it might take a little while. For example, there could be a huge gaping hole in his chest where a materia known as the Proto materia used to be. It might take a half hour to heal. If he fell off a cliff and broke both of his legs, they would be fixed in a second. His body was very different. Like a pubescent teenage boy trying to understand his anatomy, he was lost and confused. Only, he wasn't constantly horny.

"Vincent." A woman's voice echoed through the cave. His eyes instantly darted towards Lucrecia. She was the same. Completely still and gowned in white.

"What?" Vincent began to look around to see of anyone else was in the cave with him. To his knowledge, it was only him and Lucrecia.

"Vincent." The woman's voice came again. Only, she sounded as though she were standing right next to him, whispering into his ear. Suddenly, the lifestream began to weave around his body. A cold crystal substance formed at his feet and slowly moved up is body. It was the same type of crystal Lucrecia was encased in.

"What the?" Vincent struggled to break free from the crystal but to no avail. He tried to chip away at it with his gauntlet, only for it to encase his torso. He waited in fear and wonder as it spread over his face. His sight quickly faded to darkness.

Vincent came to as a sharp sound woke him. The crystalized mako had shattered. He quickly took in his surroundings. Long green streams of light surrounded him. Every few moments one of the streams would wrap its self around his body, like a ribbon, only to fade away.

"This is… the lifestream." Vincent took a step forward. The lifestream revealed a path for him as his foot landed on a stream of light. Cautiously, he proceeded forward. With each step, he drew closer to a figure clad in white and gold armor. She floated, waiting for him to arrive.

Vincent's first instinct was to draw his weapon but something held him back. Something within him was telling him to just walk forward and stay calm. So, he relaxed his hand and continued towards the strange woman. He stood a few feet away from her. They stared at each other. Vincent waited for her to make the first move but it seemed as though she was waiting for him.

"Who are you?" were the first words out of Vincent's mouth.

"I am what you see. You may call me Minerva," the woman replied. Vincent narrowed his eyes at her. He figured that this was the only thing she was going to say. There was no use in pressing the subject further. He already knew where he was. So, that led him to his next question.

"Why am I here?" he asked.

"You are here because you are needed elsewhere." Minerva replied.

"I don't understand." Vincent continued to stare at her. She slowly lifted her hand and twirled it around. In the palm of her hand, a red glowing orb appeared. Vincent's eyes widened.

"Chaos." Vincent growled.

"I am sorry. You must bear this burden once more." Suddenly, she was standing right in front of him. He tried to jump back but he couldn't move his body.

"What are you doing?" He tried hard to break free from the hold she had on him.

"You are the only one capable of wielding this power." She slowly pressed Chaos back into his body. He felt as Chaos coursed through him once more. Every fiber of he being cried out in pain as Chaos accepted its former host once again. Groaning in pain, Vincent's vision faded once more.

* * *

Vincent felt as though he were floating. The pain had subsided and he felt relaxed. His eyes were heavy, making them all the harder to open. He didn't want to open them; at least not right now. He just wanted to stay where he was.

"I will always be with you." He heard not one, but two voices. One was Minerva and the other was unrecognizable. It was a woman's voice, he was sure of that. He just couldn't tell who it belonged to.

His eyes shot open, revealing to him a starry night sky. He tried to move his head only to be faced with resistance. Realizing he was submerged in water, he began to swim towards the surface. He was further underneath the water than he had originally thought. It took him a couple of minutes to reach the surface.

Once he was above the water, he breathed in the cold night's air. He took in what was now in front of him, only seeing more water. He looked up to get a better sense of where he was.

"Hm? That's odd." Vincent was good at telling where he was by looking at the stars. His former supervisor when he was in the Turks made sure of that. He had him memorize the constellations by heart. He could tell you exactly where he was by simply looking at the stars. This was different though. Not only were the star patterns different, stars in general seemed to be missing. There were giant patches of black space randomly assorted throughout the sky. He turned around. In the distance, he saw a city with plenty of glowing lights. It would take him a while to get there, but at least there was something.

After what seemed like ages, he finally made it to the shore. The buildings were much more high tech then in Edge. Even more so than Midgar when it was at its peak in technology.

"D-did you just swim from all the way out there?" Vincent turned to where the voice was coming from. A solder stared at him in shock, a badge that said 'Guardian Coprs' on the side of his left arm.

"Where am I?" Vincent glared at him. The man seemed too frightened to speak. Turning down the glare was something he needed to work on.

When the solder finally found his words, he stammered, "B-Bodhum, sir." With that, Vincent walked away towards the city.

"Bodhum? Never heard of it," Vincent said to himself.

"He has an even more terrifying glare than the Sergeant," he heard the man say.

The last thing he remembered was Minerva placing Chaos into him again. Everything after that was a blur. Vincent placed his hand on his chest. Something felt different bout his heartbeat. He couldn't describe it but it was there. There's wasn't much time to think about it. One rule he learned over the years was to have a proper feel of the surrounding area. Information gathering was, at the moment, top priority for this city called 'Bodhum'.

* * *

_A/N: The if the first chapter to my new story. I hope you enjoy it._


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